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CVE-2016-5195

Dirty COW

Race condition in mm/gup.c in the Linux kernel 2.x through 4.x before 4.8.3 allows local users to gain privileges by leveraging incorrect handling of a copy-on-write (COW) feature to write to a read-only memory mapping, as exploited in the wild in October 2016, aka "Dirty COW."

CVSS
7.0Highscored by CISA
Exploited in the wild
Yes, in CISA KEV since 3 Mar 2022CISA deadline for US federal agencies: 24 Mar 2022public exploit code
EPSS
83.5%chance of exploitation in the next 30 daystop 0.4% of scored CVEsFIRST score of 11 Nov 2026
Fix
Patch availablesee the advisories in the references
Published
10 Nov 2016analysed here 12 Nov 2026

Do first. Apply updates per vendor instructions. (CISA's required action for this KEV entry)

Summary

Triage

Exploitable
At runtime
Attack vector
local
Weakness
Can a WAF block it?
No. See why

The summary, impact and action text on this page are written by our AI analysis pipeline, or taken from the NVD description when a CVE was imported from NVD. They are not the vendor's wording: check them against the sources. A longer AI executive summary and technical analysis are generated for signed-in accounts on the Max plan.

Affected products

Products named in our analysis

  • canonical:ubuntu_linux
  • linux:linux_kernel
  • redhat:enterprise_linux
  • redhat:enterprise_linux_aus
  • redhat:enterprise_linux_eus
  • redhat:enterprise_linux_long_life
  • redhat:enterprise_linux_tus
  • debian:debian_linux
  • fedoraproject:fedora
  • paloaltonetworks:pan-os
  • netapp:cloud_backup
  • netapp:hci_storage_nodes
  • netapp:oncommand_balance
  • netapp:oncommand_performance_manager
  • netapp:oncommand_unified_manager_for_clustered_data_ontap
  • netapp:ontap_select_deploy_administration_utility
  • netapp:snapprotect
  • netapp:solidfire

Fix and mitigation

WAF and other mitigations

Can a WAF block it? No. The attack needs local access to the machine, so a WAF is not on its path.

Also consider: patch

Based on the attack vector (local or physical access). We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.

Remediation steps (AI-written)

Step-by-step remediation is generated for accounts on the Max plan, for CVEs that match a technology in their stack. Add this technology to your stack to see the fix checklist.

Exploitation evidence

CISA KEV catalog
Listed since 3 Mar 2022.
CISA due date
24 Mar 2022, the remediation deadline for US federal agencies
CISA required action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Public exploit code
Yes: 5 on Exploit-DB · 66 GitHub proofs of concept
CISA SSVC
exploitation active, automatable no, technical impact totalAssessed by CISA 29 Jan 2025 (SSVC 2.0.3). Exploitation is none, poc (public proof of concept) or active.

Exploit-DB

GitHub proofs of concept

and 62 more repositories

Listed so you can judge urgency, not as a recommendation to run anything. GitHub “proofs of concept” are unvetted: some are fake or carry malware. Exploit-DB marks the entries its staff verified.

Timeline

  1. 19 Oct 2016First public exploit or proof of concept
  2. 10 Nov 2016Published23 days later
  3. 3 Mar 2022Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild)1,938 days (about 5 years) later
  4. 24 Mar 2022CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies)21 days later
  5. 29 Jan 2025CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active1,043 days (about 3 years) later
  6. 4 Nov 2025CVE record last updated279 days (about 9 months) later
  7. 12 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com373 days (about 1 year) later

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

MetricValueWhat it means
Attack vectorLocalLocal access required (shell, logged-in user).
Attack complexityHighNeeds specific conditions, a race or a particular configuration.
Privileges requiredLowThe attacker needs basic user privileges.
User interactionNoneNo victim action needed.
ScopeUnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
ConfidentialityHighTotal data disclosure possible.
IntegrityHighComplete modification possible.
AvailabilityHighFull outage possible.

Common questions

Is CVE-2016-5195 being exploited?

Yes. CVE-2016-5195 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.

How severe is CVE-2016-5195?

CVE-2016-5195 is rated High with a CVSS score of 7.0. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.

Is there a patch for CVE-2016-5195?

Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2016-5195. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.

What does CVE-2016-5195 affect?

CVE-2016-5195 affects canonical:ubuntu_linux, linux:linux_kernel, redhat:enterprise_linux, redhat:enterprise_linux_aus, and 14 further products or versions. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.

Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.

References

NVDCVE.orgCVE DetailsSource

50 references in the CVE record, grouped by the tags the record gives them.

Advisories (17)

Show 11 more

Exploits (4)

Other links (29)

Show 23 more

Where the data on this page comes from

Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.

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